This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a Corporate Battle
However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: The Former President
This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent merger game.
